Need Advice

[thelightedtorch]

I would like to go to China to live with my husband and two young daughters (4 and 2). I speak mandarin and want to study at a reputable university. My goal is to teach Chinese at the Defense Language Institute from which I graduated 7 years ago. My husband wants to study Chinese martial arts. I want my girls to speak Chinese fluently. We want to live in a good city that has reasonable prices where we can do all of these things. Where should we live and where should I study?

[kdavid]

Some questions that will help us cater to your situation: Where are you all from? Where do you currently live? You mention that you already speak Chinese; do you speak with a standard Mandarin accent, or do you speak a dialect? Where were you born? Where was/were your husband/children born? As you already speak Chinese, I'm assuming you're a 华裔 and that your children are 混血儿, is this correct?

We want to live in a good city that has reasonable prices where we can do all of these things.

My goal is to teach Chinese at the Defense Language Institute from which I graduated 7 years ago.

I'm not familiar with this Institute. Do they have campuses throughout China? If so, that's going to limit where you will end up. If they only have one location, then that's the only place you can go and still reach your goal.

My husband wants to study Chinese martial arts.

What else would he do? If he's white, he'll have no problem finding an English teaching position. If he also is a 华裔 than his options will be very limited.

two young daughters (4 and 2).

I want my girls to speak Chinese fluently.

Can't you teach them from home? Your girls are young enough that they won't need formal instruction if they're in China. However, do you really want them to go to school in China? While they'll certainly "learn a lot", the method of education is very different here than back home, and finding children that are 不善应酬 and 高分低能 is very common. As a teacher and soon-to-be parent, I'd never want for my child to go to school in China.

where should I study?

Don't you already speak Chinese?

Sorry if I seem a bit harsh, but there are a lot of things that need to be considered before moving your entire family over here. I'd argue more against it if you're children weren't so young, but, as long as they look Chinese, they'd assimilate without any problems.

[BrandeX]

I'm not familiar with this Institute. Do they have campuses throughout China? If so, that's going to limit where you will end up. If they only have one location, then that's the only place you can go and still reach your goal.

It's a school in America.

[kdavid]

It's a school in America.

Aah! Well, then you can forget most of my rant as you'll only be looking at doing a short amount of time in China. I was under the assumption you'd be relocating permanently. My fault for assuming.

If you want to get the most out of your stay, I'd recommend somewhere off the beaten path and preferably in the NE. A simple search on this website should yield a number of good schools.

[Lu]

You might want to look for a 师范 university, that trains Chinese teachers (teachers of Chinese), that'd be an even better preparation for being a Chinese teacher. There's one in Beijing that has a good reputation, but I'm sure you can find more. If you studied Chinese in your home country at any point, perhaps you can ask your teachers there for recommendations.